Identity Status, Sex-Role Orientation, and Self-Esteem in Late Adolescent Females

Summary Eighty-eight undergraduate women at a large Southwestern university were interviewed to determine their “identity status” (identity Achievement, Moratorium, Foreclosure, Diffusion). They also completed the Personal Attributes Questionnaire to assess their sex-role orientation (androgynous, masculine or feminine sex-typed, or undifferentiated) and the Texas Social Behavior Inventory to measure self-esteem. Masculine sex-typing was associated with identity Achievement, while feminine sex-typing and undifferen-tiatedness were associated with Moratorium and Diffusion. Significant differences among the identity statuses on masculinity were found which were independent of self-esteem, although a high correlation between masculinity and self-esteem was found. No differences among the identity statuses were found on femininity. Findings were interpreted to indicate that high masculinity, but not femininity, was probably associated with successful resolution of the identity crisis in women (identity Achievement). Possible explanations for the association of masculine personality traits with identity development were discussed!